Award-Winning BBQ Master and Car Enthusiast Won't Let Chicago Crime Stop His Restaurant's Shine
illi News/10325505

CHICAGO - illiNews -- "See that car? It sits in a garage. I can't even enjoy it because people are so envious. They will kill you. They don't even want to see you smile," says Albert Johnson, the owner of No Sauce Smoking BBQ, formerly No Sauce AZ Smokehouse, located at 133 E. 75th Street in Chatham, Chicago. He was speaking to journalist Ms RK, while referring to a photograph of his classic 1971 Cadillac Coupe Seville, which he proudly hangs on the walls of his new restaurant on East 75th, just blocks away from Lem's Bar-B-Q, a historical restaurant known for its BBQ sauce and long lines wrapped around the building, even in the cold. "I'll sum this up quickly…this place [No Sauce] is better than Lem's down the street and the line was shorter." states Tyson Smith, a local Google Maps guide with 118 reviews. The neighborhood might be rated D for crime, according to crimegrade.org, but it doesn't stop customers from frequenting any food establishment on the popular Restaurant Row on East 75th Street. It does, however, keep Johnson from driving his fancy Cadillac, that he built with his own hands, to his "No Sauce" business, because he doesn't want to attract the wrong type of attention.

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Johnson is a Chicago-born native who learned the BBQ business through trial-and-error.  Despite celebrating a one-year anniversary earlier this month at the East 75th Street location, the company has roots in Phoenix, Arizona dating back to 2018. "I started with a pick-up truck, a pit and a 10 x 10 tent. COVID hit 2019. They forced everybody to get a food truck. You couldn't do anything pertaining to food if you didn't have a food truck or a business with a drive through," says Johnson about his rough start in the industry. "I was going to buildings, like condo associations and the people would pre-order from my device and they would come down and get their food when it was ready– and it was cool," he adds. Two years later, he won second place at a citywide festival in Arizona, and the audience members booed the judges' decision, he recalls, declaring "No Sauce" as the winner. He moved back to Chicago shortly after that, in hopes of bringing his signature award-winning "No Sauce" recipes for smoked turkey, chicken, pork and beef meats, but his location at 2055 W. 79th Street did not command the same foot traffic as his current location on E. 75th Street.

To order online, visit: https://nosaucesmokingbbq.com/